Ripple’s Fundamentals are Looking Better by the Day

Ripple’s Fundamentals are Looking Better by the Day

From a purely price perspective, Ripple XRP has been a huge letdown over the past two months. But a closer look at the fundamentals reveals huge potential for the digital currency, even as the skeptics continue shouting from the rooftop.

Institutional Value

No talk of Ripple’s merit can begin without mentioning its status as an institutional asset. Although much of the public discussion around cryptos is price related, Ripple is creating business value regardless of what the ticker says. Case in point: a consortium of 61 Japanese banks has used Ripple’s technology to develop a mobile app that settles payments instantly.

On Wednesday, Ripple announced that the consortium had created a new platform called “MoneyTap,” which provides on-demand payments to Japanese customers 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The app will debut in the fall, with consortium members SBI Net Sumishin Bank, Suruga Bank and Resona Bank the first to pilot the project.

Of course, the power lies in the blockchain. The distributed ledger technology is the main catalyst behind MoneyTap. If it takes off, MoneyTap will help the Japanese circumnavigate the narrow 8:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. transaction window for sending and receiving money (and that’s only weekdays, I might add).

The Banker’s Cryptocurrency

Given the eagerness by which banks have readily adopted Ripple, it’s easy to see why people call it the “banker’s cryptocurrency.” Unlike its truly decentralized counterparts, such as bitcoin or Ethereum, Ripple works within institutional structures to provide liquidity and instant transactions to the financial industry.

In fact, it can be argued that XRP is ideally suited to be a liquidity tool rather than a purely transactional unit or investment haven. If the banks decide to use the actual token instead of just the infrastructure, they’ll be able to “bridge” between fiat currencies when conducting cross-border transactions. Although banks do not need XRP, higher institutional adoption of the Ripple blockchain will likely mean favorable returns for holders of the digital currency.

In other words, it may be too premature to toss Ripple to the side just because banks don’t need XRP. There’s a lot more going on behind the scenes.

If banks do start using XRP, there’s a reasonable chance they will hoard huge amounts of it for future use. Although it’s too early to speculate how (or even if) this will play out, it’s not unreasonable to expect such a scenario to lend favorably to the currency’s underlying value.

Solving Real World Problems

The above examples clearly show Ripple is out to solve real world problems. This is accomplished through its xRapid and xCurrent systems, which boost liquidity and enable seamless cross-border payments. From the perspective of value investing, this is an ideal scenario.

Of course, banks aren’t the only entities adopting Ripple’s systems. Western Union and MoneyGram are also testing XRP in the money transfer business.

There’s plenty more where that came from: American Express, MercuryFX and IDT at some point have all announced a stake in the Ripple blockchain.

From the perspective of fundamentals, Ripple’s outlook is getting brighter by the day. The author believes institutional partnerships are only just getting started. This means better news headlines for investors and a better chance of widespread adoption by the market.

If only traders could invest in Ripple the company, its share price would probably reflect all the excitement surrounding its future. In the absence of a Ripple IPO, the XRP cryptocurrency provides plenty of upside.

As a reminder, the author is completely neutral on Ripple. I actually prefer other cryptocurrencies and don’t have any connection with the Ripple company outside of secondary research.

Disclaimer: The author owns bitcoin, Ethereum and other cryptocurrencies. He holds investment positions in the coins, but does not engage in short-term or day-trading.

Featured image courtesy of Shutterstock.

Important: Never invest (trade with) money you can't afford to comfortably lose. Always do your own research and due diligence before placing a trade. Read our Terms & Conditions here. Trade recommendations and analysis are written by our analysts which might have different opinions. Read my 6 Golden Steps to Financial Freedom here. Best regards, Jonas Borchgrevink.

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4.7 stars on average, based on 743 rated postsSam Bourgi is Chief Editor to Hacked.com, where he leads content development for one of the world's foremost cryptocurrency resources. Over the past eight years Sam has authored more than 10,000 articles and over 40 whitepapers in the fields of labor market economics, emerging technologies, cryptocurrency and traditional finance. Sam's work has been featured in and cited by some of the world's leading newscasts, including Barron's, CBOE and Forbes.
Contact: sam@hacked.com
Twitter: @hsbourgi

Price Behavior

DASH/USDT has been trading within a $6 range for the tenth session in a row, at the time of writing. The upper part of this range should be noted at $73. Looking to the downside, the lower support of the formation is seen at $67. The price, like many of its peers within the cryptocurrency market, is stuck within a narrowing range block. They are all currently demonstrating strong downside vulnerabilities, given the current behaviour.

This trading range came after a steep fall in the market last Thursday, 10th January. Double-digit losses were seen across the board after moving within a prior narrowing range formation. DASH/USDT had a strong run from 15th – 24th December, gaining as much as 81% within that time frame. Following the high print towards the latter part of that period, at $102.50, price cooling was seen and then begun to trade sideways.

Between 26th December 2018 – 9th January 2019, DASH/USDT was moving between a narrow $86 at the high and $73 at the low. This led to the explosive breakout to the downside, where the price dropped around 20% on 10th January.

Trust Wallet Supports Dash (DASH)

Trust Wallet, a mobile crypto wallet owned by Binance, announced earlier this week that it has added support for Dash. The announcement followed after just a week ago, when the wallet provider revealed the support of Litecoin (LTC), Bitcoin (BTC), and Bitcoin Cash (BCH). In addition, the app also supports Ethereum (ETH), Ethereum Classic (ETC), Tron (TRX) and others.

The team at Trust Wallet, upon their DASH support update, also left users somewhat excited about further announcements lined up. They stated, “Going forward, we will monitor the performance and stability of our Dash release very closely, and if everything works well, hopefully, we can surprise you with more new coins in the coming weeks!”

Technical Review – DASH/USDT

DASH/USDT daily chart.

A breakout of the key mentioned levels that make up either side of the range, $72 and $67, will likely determine the next committed trend. Firstly, in terms of the next major area of support south, eyes will be on the December low area, $58. To the north, drop supply remains heading into and just above the psychological $100 mark.

Disclaimer: The author owns Bitcoin, Ethereum and other cryptocurrencies. He holds investment positions in the coins, but does not engage in short-term or day-trading.

Featured image courtesy of Shutterstock.

Important: Never invest (trade with) money you can't afford to comfortably lose. Always do your own research and due diligence before placing a trade. Read our Terms & Conditions here. Trade recommendations and analysis are written by our analysts which might have different opinions. Read my 6 Golden Steps to Financial Freedom here. Best regards, Jonas Borchgrevink.

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Important for improving the service. Please add a comment in the comment field below explaining what you rated and why you gave it that rate. Failed Trade Recommendations should not be rated as that is considered a failure either way. (1 votes, average: 4.00 out of 5)You need to be a registered member to rate this.Loading...

4.6 stars on average, based on 111 rated postsKen has over 8 years exposure to the financial markets. During a large part of his career, he worked as an analyst, covering a variety of asset classes; forex, fixed income, commodities, equities and cryptocurrencies. Ken has gone on to become a regular contributor across several large news and analysis outlets.

Bitcoin’s Year of Accumulation

Although bitcoin looks poised to extend its January losing streak to five consecutive years, 2019 will be a year of slow accumulation for the virtual currency, according to Eric Thies, a well-known technical analyst. In the meantime, traders can expect the bear market to reach its climax once a new yearly bottom is breached.

Accumulation Year

In promoting the view that 2019 will be an accumulation year for bitcoin, Thies directed our attention to the major bear trend that emerged in 2015. That was the year bitcoin exhibited significant volatility, albeit in a lower range. Following the latest breakdown in price, bitcoin could be in for a similar trading pattern this year.

“Similar to 2015, 2019 may be the year of accumulation,” Thies said, according to CCN. This means bitcoin is likely to be an attractive investment in $2,000-$4,000 range – even with wild swings priced in.

Bitcoin’s volatility regime has changed dramatically in the last two months. Following a period of unprecedented calm, volatility surged to nine-month highs in the back end of December. Volatility will likely remain a factor for the foreseeable future as the technical tug-of-war continues. More on this: Bitcoin Maintains Narrow Trading Range as Recovery Faces More Resistance.

Circulation Grows

That bitcoin will remain highly volatile is supported by the recent influx of digital currency into circulation. Anonymous owners of dormant bitcoin wallets have been trading with greater frequency since October, which means their activity may have predated the November price collapse.

Data from Flipside Crypto recently showed that long-dormant bitcoin wallets have accounted for about 60% of the market’s circulating supply in the last 30 days alone. What’s more, active bitcoin supply has increased by a whopping 40% since the summer. This, of course, feeds into higher expected volatility.

If that’s not enough, consider that 1,000 addresses hold 85% of available bitcoin. As Bloomberg recently noted, many of these holders remained on the sidelines during the 2017 bull run and its subsequent collapse. If dormant accounts are becoming active again, there’s good reason to suggest that the whales are looking to re-enter the market.

Not Overnight

It’s reasonable to expect that bitcoin will become more attractive at lower prices, especially as more institutional investors access the crypto market in the coming year. But that doesn’t mean the accumulation will happen overnight. Previous bear cycles have taught us that downtrends can stretch for 1-2 years before any noticeable accumulation takes place. The only difference this time is there are more people involved, and more eyeballs on the price.

To demonstrate bitcoin’s potential at current levels, and why 2019 will be an attractive year to boost one’s holdings, it’s worthwhile to reflect on the cryptocurrency’s yearly lows rather than its highs. Below is a quick snapshot of bitcoin’s yearly bottoms stretching all the way back to 2012:

2012: $4

2013: $65

2014: $200

2015: $185

2016: $365

2017: $780

2018: $3,200

Traders tend to focus on bitcoin’s lack of new all-time highs as evidence that the market is going nowhere, but these figures clearly show that BTC is a solid investment at almost any period in the last seven years (of course, this isn’t the case if you bought during the peak of 2018).

Make no mistake: technical analysis and market sentiment clearly show there is more pain ahead for bitcoin and the broader cryptocurrency market. But as the long-term value proposition continues to hold, there’s strong reason to believe we haven’t seen the last bull market. In the meantime, 2019 prices could represent a unique buying opportunity for those who missed the boat two years ago.

Disclaimer: The author owns bitcoin, Ethereum and other cryptocurrencies. He holds investment positions in the coins, but does not engage in short-term or day-trading.

Featured image courtesy of Shutterstock.

Important: Never invest (trade with) money you can't afford to comfortably lose. Always do your own research and due diligence before placing a trade. Read our Terms & Conditions here. Trade recommendations and analysis are written by our analysts which might have different opinions. Read my 6 Golden Steps to Financial Freedom here. Best regards, Jonas Borchgrevink.

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Important for improving the service. Please add a comment in the comment field below explaining what you rated and why you gave it that rate. Failed Trade Recommendations should not be rated as that is considered a failure either way. (4 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)You need to be a registered member to rate this.Loading...

4.7 stars on average, based on 743 rated postsSam Bourgi is Chief Editor to Hacked.com, where he leads content development for one of the world's foremost cryptocurrency resources. Over the past eight years Sam has authored more than 10,000 articles and over 40 whitepapers in the fields of labor market economics, emerging technologies, cryptocurrency and traditional finance. Sam's work has been featured in and cited by some of the world's leading newscasts, including Barron's, CBOE and Forbes.
Contact: sam@hacked.com
Twitter: @hsbourgi

Lite.IM Surpasses Facebook In Race To Support Cryptocurrency Compatible Messenger

Since the early part of 2018, crypto traders have been bombarded with bad news. Hacks, broken promises, and overall lack of enthusiasm have resulted in huge losses. But more than that, some promising cryptocurrencies just haven’t survived. As traders look to the future, they should begin looking at projects that have the potential to disrupt industries and take them to the next level. One company that has the potential to accomplish that is Zulu Republic (ZTX).

Zulu Republic is an ecosystem of blockchain tools and platforms, designed as a place where people, businesses, and organizations can thrive on their own terms. The company’s stated mission is to advance the development of decentralized technologies, to promote human rights and empowerment around the globe, and to reduce the global digital divide.

Well the company is off to a great start with the development of Lite.IM.

What is Lite.IM?

Lite.IM is a project aimed at expanding global cryptocurrency adoption. With Lite.IM, users can send, receive, and manage Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Litecoin (LTC), and the company’s native currency (ZTX), on Facebook Messenger, Telegram, and SMS (in the USA and Canada). To get started managing these cryptocurrencies on the aforementioned platforms, users simply need to send a text-based command to the Lite.IM bot. The commands are as follows:

Telegram: @LiteIM_bot

Facebook Messenger: @lite.im

SMS (USA and Canada only): 760-LITEIM-0

Competition with Facebook

On December 21st, 2018, Facebook announced that it was developing its own stable cryptocurrency that users would be allowed to exchange through its popular chat service, WhatsApp. But while Facebook’s initial approach will target users based in India, Lite.IM is open to everyone in the world. Further, Zulu Republic has previously mentioned that they expect to announce support for WhatsApp in the next few weeks. It certainly appears as though Lite.IM has the upper hand here. And that is before even addressing Facebook’s obvious privacy concerns.

When it comes to cryptocurrency, privacy and security have always been two issues at the forefront. Given the rough year that Facebook has had in that regard, users must certainly be forgiven if they have trouble trusting the social media giant. In September, 2018, Facebook announced that an attack on its computer network had exposed the personal information of nearly 50 million users. Apparently, the hackers were able to exploit a feature in Facebook’s code to gain access to user accounts. Even prior to this announcement, Facebook was already under Congressional scrutiny over revelations that a British analytics firm obtained access to private information from nearly 87 million Facebook users. Not to mention Facebook’s rumored involvement with Russian election meddling. Suffice it to say, it has been a tumultuous year for Facebook.

And while users may have concerns trusting Facebook’s ability to handle cryptocurrency data, they shouldn’t have those same concerns with Lite.IM. Private keys are RSA encrypted with the user’s password. Lite.IM will never ask for that information nor will it be stored. Because of this, no third party will ever have access to that valuable information.

Conclusion

The truth of the matter is that Facebook is an absolute giant and has grown at an extraordinary rate since its initial public offering. Facebook has hired some incredible talent, from executive positions to marketing to development. And while one should never count them out, I simply wouldn’t be able to trust them with all of the recent issues. Perhaps in time, after regaining the public’s trust, users could once again look to Facebook as a leader.

Fortunately, users have another strong and dependable option. Lite.IM will allow users all over the world to manage popular cryptocurrencies via their favorite messenger platform. Users should continue to stay tuned for future developments.

Featured image courtesy of Shutterstock.

Important: Never invest (trade with) money you can't afford to comfortably lose. Always do your own research and due diligence before placing a trade. Read our Terms & Conditions here. Trade recommendations and analysis are written by our analysts which might have different opinions. Read my 6 Golden Steps to Financial Freedom here. Best regards, Jonas Borchgrevink.

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Important for improving the service. Please add a comment in the comment field below explaining what you rated and why you gave it that rate. Failed Trade Recommendations should not be rated as that is considered a failure either way. (1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)You need to be a registered member to rate this.Loading...

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